Romancing characters in Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t exactly brain surgery, but pursuing the Tiefling Barbarian Karlach can be surprisingly complex. There are several potential fates she can have based on how you romance her, and they range from uplifting to downright demoralizing. Fortunately, we’ve taken the time to woo her in every possible way and have compiled our findings in this guide on how to romance Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3 and achieve the best ending.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Karlach Romance Guide
Romancing Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t too difficult to trigger and follows the same logic as the rest of the romance storylines for your companions. However, there are some early choices you have to avoid if you want to gain her affection.
To start, it should be pretty obvious that you need to keep Wyll from killing Karlach — and not kill her yourself — in Act 1. This ensures she’ll join your party, and you can begin to gain her approval from there. It’s also vital that you don’t slaughter the Tieflings alongside the Goblins and Minthara, as this causes her to leave your party permanently alongside Wyll.
Likewise, you’ll need to repair her Infernal Engine with Infernal Iron via Dammon the Tiefling blacksmith two times so that she is no longer too hot to touch. This not only allows you to make physical contact with her, but also lowers your chance of getting the worst ending for her romance storyline substantially. You can find him in Act 1 at the Emerald Grove and in Act 2 at the Last Light Inn.
Past that, you can amass plenty of approval from her by being brave, kind, and helpful through your choices and dialogue. When speaking to her, opt for the dialogue choices that are kind and considerate. Flirt with her whenever possible, and avoid evil or cruel actions like the plague.
You can also use Illithid Parasites without any repercussions. She does comment on not knowing if doing so is a good idea, but she also doesn’t judge you too harshly for making use of them.
Can You Have Multiple Partners and Romance Karlach? Answered
Finally, it’s important that you don’t attempt to romance any other characters aside from Karlach. In every instance, she took this as a sign that we weren’t interested and put a stop to her romantic storyline.
It’s a bit of a bummer if you were hoping to romance every companion in one go, but it lines up with Karlach’s character. Plus, it’ll save you some of the headaches that come with romancing multiple characters at once.
How to Cool Off and Kiss Karlach
After you obtain enough approval from her and use at least one Infernal Iron to repair her Engine, you’ll gain the option to kiss her. Choose to do so, and a scene will trigger where you kiss and have to pull back due to the heat.
Afterward, a scene should play out the next time you take a Long Rest at your camp. Karlach and your character will talk about their feelings for each other next to the campfire, and you can choose the more flattering or flirty dialogue options to gain more approval from her. She will then comment on how she wants to be with you physically, and will be open to any ideas you have to achieve this.
You can then speak to her again at your camp and say you have an idea for cooling her off. Once she accepts, use Ray of Frost or similar spells and items that can leave her encased in frost or otherwise colder. Speak to her again, and you can kiss her to gain more approval points.
How to Sleep With Karlach
To reach a climax of the romance with Karlach though, you’ll need to reach Dammon at the Last Light Inn and have him repair her Infernal Engine a second time.
As stated above, this cools her down completely and allows you to touch her without issue. When she doesn’t know how to check if it worked, choose to kiss her. This time it works with zero sparks, and she’ll make a comment about wanting to go to bed with you as soon as possible. You can do so by heading back to camp, speaking to her, choosing the dialogue option that states you’re ready to have sex, and then taking a long rest.
Afterward, you can speak to her about your shared night of passion and the option to tell her you love her becomes available. Do so, and she reveals that she feels the same way. This largely cements your relationship, and it shouldn’t be possible to ruin things unless you actively make every possible decision she would dislike.
From that point on, you can keep your approval with her high by kissing her while at your camp and making the same general choices outlined above. She’ll also ask you to go on a date with her in Act 3, and doing so bolsters her view of you further so long as you’re kind and considerate during the outing.
Should You Tell Her to Go Back to Avernus?
Sadly, this is far from the end of Karlach’s romance storyline in Baldur’s Gate 3.
In the process of making the second repair to her Infernal Engine, Dammon reveals that it is bound to blow unless she returns to Avernus. Karlach is hesitant to talk about it, but does hear you out if you try to talk about it with her while her approval is high. Be kind and considerate in what you say, but make sure you choose the dialogue options that makes it clear you want to find a way for her to survive.
Even if you are aggressive and tell her to go back to Avernus though, she doesn’t outright end your relationship. At most, you miss out on some chances to further boost her approval of you.
Should You Let Her Go Back with Wyll?
It’s also possible for Wyll to encourage her to go back to Avernus with him if his companion quest has been completed. He agrees to watch out for her while she’s there, and promises you that she won’t come to harm while he’s around.
While viable, this can lock you out of the best ending for Karlach’s romance storyline. We had the most success when we avoided completing Wyll’s story in its entirety, as doing so prevents him from bringing up the subject with you and Karlach.
Should You Let Karlach Become a Mind Flayer in Baldur’s Gate 3?
All of this should leave you primed to earn the best ending to Karlach’s romance storyline as you approach the finale of Baldur’s Gate 3.
With that said, some important choices will still need to be made. When the option to turn a character into a Mind Flayer presents itself, don’t accept it. While Karlach readily volunteers to do this so that her Infernal Engine won’t be a problem anymore, it also results in her personality slowly draining away until she becomes an entirely different being. The same happens to you if you accept, and your character even starts to tip toward more evil compulsions as the story wraps up.
Instead, decline the Emperor’s offer and side with Orpheus. Most of your choices from this point onward won’t impact whether or not you get the better endings to her storyline, and you’ll only have one more choice to make once the epilogue starts.
Should You Go to Avernus With Karlach? Answered
As the epilogue plays, a final dialogue scene triggers with Karlach. Her Engine starts to overheat, and you’ll have the option to tell her to go back to Avernus or say you’ll go back with her. Both lead to her survival, but staying with her is the only way to get her best ending.
Say you’ll join her, and then the two of you will be transported to the hellish plane together. A scene then plays out that shows you preparing for battle together, and you charge toward a fight side by side with your relationship intact.
And that’s everything there is to know about how to romance Karlach and get the best ending to her story in Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s an intensive process, but well-worth the effort for the emotional highs it brings. For guides on how to romance other characters in the game, check out some of our related articles down below.
Published: Sep 5, 2023 10:11 pm